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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/28875072">Right here, right now</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account'>orphan_account</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Penn &amp; Teller RPF</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Be More Quarantine Challenge, F/M, Getting Together, Love Confessions, M/M, Slurs</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-01-20</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-01-20</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-13 07:08:28</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>950</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/28875072</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Penn just now realizes how lonely his friend must be. He decides to ask him some questions.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Penn Jillette/Teller (Magician)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>5</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Right here, right now</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Ever since Penn had met Teller, he was intrigued. He’d say enchanted, but as they’d shown, ‘real’ magic is all bullshit. <br/>Teller was like a planet, and Penn was drawn to him like a comet, doomed to crash. <br/>Why he’d given up his career as a teacher to go run off with two asses to do magic tricks, is still a slight mystery for him. Penn knows he is good at convincing people, talking to them and putting on a show, but Teller hadn’t seemed entirely phased by him. No, something had to come from Teller himself. <br/>Penn had wondered about that ever since. Even now, as successful magicians with their own show and an immense career, it sometimes still confused Penn. <br/>Until now. </p>
<p>Covid-19 has taken a toll on everyone, and Teller fell behind. Right now Penn is starting up a Zoom call. He is trying to support his friend. All alone in a big, empty house cannot be easy, and Teller can’t go outside much, as his age makes him more at risk. <br/>It didn’t really hit Penn how hard this must be on his best friend, until he texted him at three am, asking if they could call in the morning. <br/>The call finally started up, and Penn carefully positioned his phone on his counter. He knows Teller wouldn’t mind talking to him while he was eating breakfast, they’d done it thousands of times before. </p>
<p>Teller is also eating breakfast, he has a simple sandwich with nutella. <br/>“Goodmorning Teller.” Penn wants to be smug, but Teller looks like he didn’t sleep all night, so he holds back any remarks about his hair or the dark circles under his eyes. <br/>“‘Mornin’ Penn.” It was honestly more a grumble than a sentence, his groggy voice so different than his usual softer, smoother voice. <br/>Penn put a bowl down for himself. <br/>“You alright?” He looked at the screen. Teller shrugged and took a sip of what is probably coffee. <br/>Penn got a spoon and began eating his breakfast. They didn’t really speak usually, when you’ve travelled with someone as long as they have, you eventually run out of things to talk about. <br/>Of course they didn’t talk about every topic, but they had silently drawn lines and borders over the years, no questions asked. There were certain lines Penn never crossed, certain topics Teller never brought up. Still, with more time to spend in his head only, Penn had been wondering more about their start. Time to cross the border, see what happens. </p>
<p>“Can I ask something?” Teller grunts positively in response. <br/>“Why did you give up teaching? Why do this insane thing, of running off and living out of a van with two assholes when you had a career?” <br/>It stays silent for a while, and then a deep sigh. <br/>“You want to do this now?” Teller looks straight into the camera. Penn nods. <br/>“Because I was in love with you.” Teller continues his sandwich, like he didn’t just drop a major bomb on his friend. Penn’s hand freezes mid-air. <br/>“I think i still am, sometimes.” Teller continues. Penn takes a deep breath. <br/>“Are you fucking with me?” Probably not the best thing to say, but his mind can’t come up with anything else. Teller shakes his head. <br/>“Shit.” Teller huffs<br/>“You don’t have to make it that clear that i’m a fucking fag.” He doesn’t look at the screen, Penn knows he is just avoiding the confrontation. <br/>“Teller?” He has to be careful, make sure it doesn’t push him too far. <br/>“You do know i love you too right?” He’s telling the half truth. It was a perverse fascination at first, just an experiment for him to try, and it’s slowly been morphing into a love. Not just love of course, but pair that with respect and bittersweet want, and you’ve got his love for Teller. <br/>“Don’t joke about this goddamnit Penn!” Teller slams down his plate. <br/>“I’m serious you asshole!” Penn yells back. He didn’t mean to yell but here he is. <br/>Teller stays silent. Penn can see the shock in his eyes, even through the camera. <br/>“Does she know?” Is the only thing Teller asks after a very long minute of waiting. Penn nods. Of course he told his wife, she’s not stupid, he couldn’t lie to her if he tried. <br/>“Okay.” Teller slumps back into his seat. Penn’s abandoned his food, he honestly doesn’t feel hungry anymore. <br/>“So now what?” He asks. It’s an honest to God question. He doesn’t know. He’s insisted on keeping it all professional -no love involved- just to keep the two of them together. Maybe once he thought he couldn’t have it all, couldn't do both his work and love him. One of the two always gets in the way, doesn’t it? Well fuck that, fuck all of this. it’s too late now. They both talked, missing each other more than they thought possible. And Teller, a teller who always does the impossible, always does something new and never done before, together with Penn. <br/>Maybe they could do something they have never done before. Maybe they could last. After all, there’s a first time for everything. </p>
<p>“When are you getting tested again?” Teller knows what he means. <br/>“We can meet next week.” He’d like that, seeing him again. But it’s not enough. <br/>“Come to my place. Stay with me. Please.” Penn doesn’t say please, at least not very often. <br/>“Okay. I’ll pack after I get the test done.” Penn wishes he could say more, but this is it. They are going to be there for each other. The finer details can be worked out later. Right now, everything is okay.</p>
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